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Kashifu Inuwa: Three Years of Changing the Fate of IT in Nigeria
Kashifu Inuwa: Three Years of Changing the Fate of IT in Nigeria
By Mubarak Umar
Three years? Yes, three years as the Director General of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), and it is heartwarming to note that growing corps of well-educated, world class technocrats are coming to the public domain to help change the narrative in public service.
In these three years, Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE defines diligence, hard work and dedication. His penchant for IT growth and vision-driven initiatives to see Nigeria grow its economy through digital technologies are unprecedented. He has demonstrated the purpose of encouraging Nigerians to embrace IT and use it as an enabler for their economic activities. He believes that IT as a source of inspiration, can be harnessed to develop new business value propositions.
As the Director General of NITDA, Inuwa has proved that Nigeria can be Africa’s largest digital economy. Since ascending the leadership of NITDA in August 2019, there has been an impressive implementation of the Agency’s Strategic Roadmap for the development of Nigeria’s IT sector envisioned by Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), Honourable Minister, Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, as well as implementation of President Muhammadu Buhari’s core vision of Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) through Information Technology.
Kashifu has been steadily building upon the foundation laid by the previous occupants of that office, driving the Agency to fulfil its core mandate in consonance with the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) of the Federal Government.
To put Nigeria on a path to effectively operate a digital economy, NITDA, under the stewardship of Kashifu Inuwa mapped out a Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2021-2024), identified by the Agency as the fulcrum digital economy development.
In his numerous public presentations, Inuwa has spoken extensively about the pillars captured in the SRAP, namely Developmental Regulation; Digital Literacy and Skills; Digital Transformation; Digital Innovation & Entrepreneurship; Cybersecurity; Emerging Technologies; and Promotion of Indigenous Content.
Undoubtedly, his achievements as Director General of NITDA especially in implementation of IT Regulation in the sector in the last three years are unprecedented. He walks the talks by ensuring that Nigeria maintains an automated IT Project Clearance (ITPC) and creation of user accounts for Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs), thus, saving the Nigerian Federal Government billions of naira.
It is on recorded that Kashifu continued with the visionary leadership of Prof. Pantami of facilitating the implementation of the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR), which resulted in the establishment of the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB). This action further introduced NITDA to international stage thereby earning the Agency the position of Vice Chair of the African Union Policy and Regulatory Initiative for Digital Africa (PRIDA).
Inuwa knows the ICT global terrain deeply and he is very aware of the challenges, limitations and constraints keeping Nigeria – a nation of about 200 million people – lagging behind in the evolving world of digital economy. Against all the odds Nigeria’s IT sector faces, the NITDA DG has shown his indefatigable vision and passion to take Nigeria into the comity of nations, running on digital economy.
Under his watch, the Agency has developed several regulatory frameworks for IT development, majority of which have been published both in hard and soft copy.
The Agency embarked on the development of two regulatory frameworks for Information Technology development in government establishments. The project is to give rise to digital skills in educational institutions and rural areas of the country. In addition, Information Technology (IT) knowledge is integrated into the underserved areas and cities so as to develop human capital and provide universal access to knowledge with the aim of creating a knowledge-based economy.
Early 2020, just few months after his appointment, the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic presented a major challenge to Nigeria and other countries across the globe, and the distinguished strategist faced the challenge by constituting a Tech4Covid Committee that explored measures to be deployed in cushioning the economic effect of the Pandemic on Nigeria’s digital enterprise. The Committee crafted a strategy that would later ensure the retention of about 100,000 ICT jobs and the creation of additional 30,000 jobs in the Post COVID-19 era.
With the needed strategy in place, the Agency has succeeded in programming, developing and mapping out digital processes to cushion the effect of Coronavirus since it is outbreak globally; the Nigeria COVID19 Innovation Challenge, an online innovation challenge that was set up to meet the challenges our society faced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Creative minds across the country came together, experimented and built software solutions that helped address this crisis.
Furthermore, NITDA developed various digital educational contents that can be accessed remotely by thousands of Nigerians who were on lockdown, as well as strategies to assist the government in continuing its daily activities virtually. With all the challenges posed by COVID-19, Kashifu continues to provide able leadership to NITDA in discharging its duty of regulating, coordination, monitoring, evaluation and development of the growth of the Nigerian IT sector and digital economy.
In these three years of Kashifu’s reign as Director General, the Agency uncovered unfolded the potentials in Nigerian farmers through Federal Government’s initiative of National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA), a project aimed at changing the face of the agricultural sector in the country.
The National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture is an ecosystem-driven digital platform envisioned for the transformation of the agriculture sector in Nigeria. It is designed to help farmers and other agricultural ecosystem players navigate their journey across the agriculture value chain. This journey cuts across farm production to management, processing, harvesting, storage, marketing and consumption. Farmers were trained and empowered with digital devices and seeds funding, which also created direct and indirect jobs in the country.
NITDA also launched the National Adopted School for Smart Education (NASSE) to promote digital literacy and skills. 500 students and 30 teachers at Junior Secondary School Karshi benefited from the pilot scheme. The Agency also supervised the training of thousands of Artisans across the 6 Geo-Political Zones on digital literacy and phone repairs.
The Agency trained women on ICT and Entrepreneurship, People Living with Disabilities, each provided with Laptops (with pre-installed e-learning & graphics Software), Internet Dongles & Bag-Packs, direct jobs and indirect jobs were created; trained hundreds of Nigerians on Software, Mobile App & Web Development, and Entrepreneurship.
In addition to making an effort in IT development as well as enhancing the IT capacity of the citizenry, hundreds of IT Hubs, IT Parks, and Community ICT Centres were established, furnished and equipped with world class facilities across the states of the federation. The Agency, through its strategic relations with Tecpreneurs, supported start-ups, IT hubs and ecosystem builders through Nigeria ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship Vision (NIIEV). In the process, NITDA’s programmes have created employment for Nigerian youths.
To ensure Nigeria’s pool of talents were not left behind, the Agency under his watch, established National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), to drive and support research, development, and adoption of Emerging Technologies in Nigeria.
The Centre is creating the required environment for Nigeria’s teaming youths; encourage innovation and indigenisation of technologies to help address the continuous reliance on foreign products and services which has negative impact on the country’s economy. It serves as a bridge between the government, industry, and the academia in providing research environment for creativity, idea integration, collaborative environment, development of ICT policies, processes and strategies.
Kashifu commissioned Digital Fabrication Laboratory (Abuja FabLab 1.0), a unit within the Centre that serves as one of its revenue-generating components. FabLab offers training and capacity-building programmes for the Centre’s staff and external Agencies requiring such services. While the FabLab serves all the entities within the ecosystem, it also maintains an open-door policy to the public, hence encouraging all digital innovators and makers to drive their ideas from inception to impact. It maintains an open access policy to allow the laboratory to serve as a digital innovation accelerator for all innovators and makers. It allows open-production and public access to aid innovation and entrepreneurship activities.
As a result of Kashifu’s commitment, Nigeria made history when it the Agency hosted the Key Generation and Handover Ceremony for Root Certification Authority (RCA) for Country Signing Certification Authority (CSCA) and Country Verification Certification Authority (CVCA) of the National Public Key Infrastructure (NPKI), signaling the commencement of Public Key Infrastructure Service Provision in Nigeria.
As a results of NITDA’s high productivity, performance, excellence in service delivery and impact on the nation IT sector, the Agency received the prestigious National Productivity Order of Merit (NPOM) Award from the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR. The honour is for the Agency to do more in getting all Nigerians on board the digital journey of the Federal Government. Interestingly, NITDA is the only government Agency that was honoured with this award.
These successes, certainly, have been achieved through the efforts of this distinguished personality who against all odds, leads his organisation to greater heights. As he celebrates three years in office, I join millions of Nigerians in congratulating him for these achievements. I also pray that the Almighty continue to guide him as he leads NITDA to greater heights and facilitates Nigeria’s transformation into a leading digital economy where citizens use digital technologies in creating wealth and prosperity.
Agriculture
Borno establishes Ministry of Livestock, Fishery Development
The Borno Government has announced the creation of Ministry of Livestock and Fishery Development to align its
Development strategy with Federal Government initiatives, and boost the state’s economic potential.
Gov. Babagana Zulum made the announcement on Tuesday during the swearing in of two commissioners at the council chambers of the Government House.
Zulum underscored the importance of livestock and fisheries as vital sectors with untapped revenue potential.
He emphasised that the new ministry would focus on high-yield livestock breeds, milk production and fisheries, targeting both domestic consumption and export opportunities.
The governor said that “no state government can make substantial money in livestock alone, but we believe with the right investment and political will, the sector can generate significant revenue.”
He said that the growing demand for milk by yogurt companies and the proximity of Maiduguri to Asian and Arab markets, are great opportunities for dairy exportation.
The governor, therefore, assigned the Deputy Governor, Dr Umar Kadafur, to oversee the activities of the new ministry, citing his practical experience and passion for livestock development.
He said “livestock development is not just about academic qualifications, it is about practice and the deputy governor has demonstrated capability in that regard.”
According to him, the ministry will prioritise procuring high-yielding livestock varieties, enhancing milk production and creating sustainable rural projects to support
Local communities.
He said that projects in Mafa, Gajiram and in Southern Borno will soon be launched under the new ministry’s purview.
The governor urged civil servants and ministry personnel to take ownership of the new initiative, adding that the ministry’s success would contribute to the states
Long-term economic stability and self-reliance.
Headlines
British High Commissioner seeks military, civilian efforts in tackling insecurity
The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Richard Montgomery, has called for the combination of military and civilian efforts in tackling the complexity of security challenges in Nigeria and globally.
Montgomery made the call at a two-day Security and Justice Symposium organised by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in Collaboration with the British High Commission, on Tuesday in Abuja.
He commended the efforts of the Nigerian military in promoting civil-military collaboration and adoption of kinetic and non-kinetic action in addressing the menace of terrorism and insurgency in the country.
“At the heart of all this is recognition of the importance of upholding the rule of law, human rights, humanitarian law and international humanitarian law.
“We need to consider the different legal principles and frameworks that apply to criminal violence or to violent conflicts and how we deal with them in protracted conflict zones.
“We had a legal frameworks roundtable with the Nigerian military officers earlier this year, and a really good debate about how we adapt to different situations.
“I am hoping today we will help progress that dialogue on which Nigerian legal frameworks are appropriate in which circumstances,’’ he said.
Montgomery highlighted the positive and open relationship between the UK and Nigeria, noting that both countries were learning from each other’s experiences in tackling security challenges.
He expressed his appreciation for the opportunity to continue this productive dialogue and hoped that the symposium would result in actionable insights and further strengthen the partnership.
Headlines
Zulum swears in 2 new commissioners
Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno on Tuesday presided over the swearing-in of two new commissioners to replace those who died while in active service.
The State Chief Judge, Justice Kashim Zannah, administered the oath of office at the ceremony held at the Government House in Maiduguri.
The new commissioners are Muhammad Lawan-Dalorima for the Ministry of Finance and Isa Haladu for the Ministry of Reconstruction, Resettlement and Rehabilitation (RRR).
In his speech, Zulum expressed gratitude to the Borno House of Assembly for their prompt scrutiny and confirmation of the nominees.
He urged the commissioners to uphold the principles of integrity, transparency, and accountability in their new roles, while emphasising the administration’s strategy of periodically rotating commissioners to different ministries to promote fresh ideas and effective governance.
“You have been chosen for your exceptional qualities and expertise. I have no doubt you will make valuable contributions to our administration,” he said.
The governor also paid tribute to the late commissioners who previously held the portfolios, reflecting on their contributions to the development of the state.
Responding on behalf of the commissioners, Haladu thanked the governor for finding them worthy of the appointment, and promised him of diligent service delivery.
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